August 05, 2018

Fire officials say that the root cause of California's catastrophic Carr wildfire was a flat tire.

On July 23, a trailer was driving through Redding, California when the tire gave out and the wheel's rim scraped against the asphalt igniting a spark that has since become the state's sixth-most destructive wildfire. The fire crept up the Highway 299, fueled by miles of dry brush.

Some people don't seem to believe in the importance of routine maintenance. This demonstrates exactly why it is important.

August 04, 2018

For the second time in two weeks, a monsoon storm has struck the Phoenix area, bring high winds and a wall of dust followed by rain and lightning. At least one home was ripped apart by the wind, another caught fire as a result of a lightning strike, and considerable other damage was incurred across the valley. Certainly not my choice for a retirement residence. By next Friday, temperatures are expected to fall to as low as 97 degrees. It's hard to believe that people actually choose to live there.

August 03, 2018

Greg Manteufel had the great misfortune of contracting Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a bacterial pathogen found in healthy dogs and cats. The ensuing sepsis resulted in doctors amputating both legs below the knee and then both hands. He worked as a painter, but he won't be doing that any more.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes infections are more likely to occur in adults 40 and older, and risk factors include alcoholism and weak immune system (often related to cancer or other infections). Another key risk factors is not having a spleen.

When I had cancer (a number of years ago), Dog licked me pretty much every time I got back home from treatment. I guess I have a good immune system. One of the cancer team guys told me that as recently as the late 1980s, the treatment for mine was amputation of the arm at the shoulder - but they all still died within two years. We didn't do that, although I've got no right biceps muscle any more. Push-ups are a bitch, now. Other than that, not so bad.

Doctors suspect Manteufel, who was not bitten or scratched, picked up the bacteria through a dog lick and then touched his mouth or eye, Dawn said.

This is why Dog never gets to lick my face. And always wash hands after a lick-a-thon. The bacteria was first noted in dog saliva, hence the name. It was later discovered in cats as well.

And speaking of cats, this has been mentioned here before, but worth repeating:

Toxoplasma gondii infects an estimated 2 billion people at present, and it comes from cats. The parasite appears to shift the behavior of rodents, making them unafraid of cats. It also affects humans, shifting their willingness to take risks (among other issues).

More than 60 million people in the United States may carry the parasite, the Centers for Disease Control said, often after contact with raw meat or cat feces. It's often unnoticeable, as human immune systems usually ward off symptoms. In rodents with the parasite, the lack of fear around cats makes them more likely to be eaten. That works out well for the parasite, which reproduces once inside the cat.

When last discussed here, we talked only about the cat/rodent connection. But it seems to affect human behavior as well.

By the way, Toxo applies to all cats, not just the domestics. The bacterium lives inside cats, is excreted, then provides easier prey for the cats, which thus continues the cycle. Of course, cats don't generally prey upon humans. Generally. See: The Tiger.

August 01, 2018

A U.S. District Court Judge in Oregon recently ruled that boys must be allowed to use the girls locker room, showers and bathrooms, and vice versa in public schools throughout the state.

According to Judge Marco Hernandez, for children to “see or be seen by someone of the opposite biological sex while either are undressing or performing bodily functions in a restroom, shower, or locker room does not give rise to a constitutional violation.”

Nobody claimed it was a violation of the constitution - just a violation of commonly-accepted standards.

July 30, 2018

A 15-year-old teen suffered second-degree burns to his face and body after his friends allegedly poured boiling hot water on him as he slept in a bid to complete the “Hot Water Challenge.” Kyland Clark, of Indianapolis, said that he and his friends were watching videos of the challenge last week on YouTube before he fell asleep, and that his friend had attempted the challenge as a joke, Fox 59 reported.

Thaat's not a joke; boiling water is hot, and throwing it on someone is felony assault.

For a while there, we thought we'd driven you into a stalemate; the cost of high-potency anti-aids drugs went from $10,000 a person in 1996 down to $75 per year. But then things went south:

The drugs didn’t cure anybody—HIV still lurks in the bodies of the nearly 22 million treated individuals.

Any interruption in treatment allowed the virus to emerge from its hiding places and re-infect the patient. Plenty of interruptions occurred. Today, the number of infected people is estimated at at least 37 million, worldwide. The number of resultant fatalities is expected to be staggering.

With any luck, many of the loons will manage to stroke out, which might precipitate a welcome return to civility. As it is, their ongoing TDS shows no sign of abating, and they're becoming more problematic.

A huge GOP rally in Florida over the weekend saw the same dangers. Two years ago, this particular rally on Florida’s West Coast south of Tampa Bay had just a handful of security and police. This year, there were about 30 police officers and private security members — and they were needed.

About 1,200 Republicans showed up to hear 41 candidates, including Gov. Rick Scott and gubernatorial contenders Ron DiSantis and Adam Putnam, plus take part in a straw poll.

When Scott began speaking, the Leftists who'd infiltrated the event unleashed disruptions half a dozen times, throwing things at the stage, shouting, and more. It took a while, but the cops finally got them all out. It should get even more interesting tomorrow night, when Trump shows up down there to support DeSantis....

July 11, 2018

Angel Perez of Millville, New Jersey, was crabbing in Maurice River and just a few hours later his arms and legs were in severe pain and beginning to balloon up.

He's got a flesh-eating bacterial infection and is now in an ICU. Doctors are considering that it may be necessary to amputate all of his limbs, which may force him to change his name to Bob before hitting the water again. Apparently the Vibrio necrotizing bacteria can be contracted in the summer months from salty water over there.

In other news from the east coast:

Police say a drunk man driving a construction crane left a nine-mile trail of destruction on the Long Island Expressway, hitting four cars and totally obliterating one of them before a cop jumped into the cab and got him to stop.